Library Management

More than just a green building: Developing green strategies at the Chinese
University of Hong Kong Library
Louise Jones Winky Wong
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More than just a green building Green

strategies at
Developing green strategies at the Chinese the Chinese
University of Hong Kong Library University

Louise Jones and Winky Wong 373

Library, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Sha Tin, Hong Kong
Received 4 May 2016
Revised 7 July 2016
Abstract Accepted 16 July 2016
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Purpose The slogan Go Green has been embraced by a range of organizations including
businesses and universities in recent decades. Within higher education academic libraries, as a key
service unit in their parent institution, have an important role to play in supporting this mission. The
authors have seen many academic libraries strive to Go green by designing a green library, whether
a new build or renovation. The paper aims to discuss these issues.
Design/methodology/approach This paper discusses how the Chinese University of
Hong Kong (CUHK) Library formulates, develops and implements its green strategy and how the
strategy has gradually reshaped its services. First, the authors consider how the concept of
sustainability has affected services provided by academic libraries, and why green strategies are a
practical and feasible approach. The authors then use CUHK Library as a case study, siting
the development of its green strategies in the context of, the Universitys approach to sustainability
and the wider CUHK community, and ultimately the Librarys overall strategic plan. The third
section describes how the library implements its green strategies in different areas, from the daily
operation of library offices and services offered to users, to the planning of a library extension and
broader sustainability initiatives. Issues of evaluation are discussed and the authors conclude the
paper with future plans.
Findings There are very few academic libraries in the USA that are Leadership in Energy and
Environmental Design certified.
Originality/value The authors argue that pursuing a green building may not be the strategic focus
for many academic libraries. In taking a more holistic approach to sustainability through practical
measures, academic libraries need to formulate and develop wider green strategies beyond a green
building. Go Green impacts not only the attitudes towards the environment but also changes the way
academic libraries serve their users and community.
Keywords Library, Green buildings, Green policies, Green governance, Green strategies,
Green sustainability
Paper type Research paper

Introduction
The slogan Go Green has been embraced by a range of organizations including
business enterprises and universities in recent decades. Within higher education,
academic libraries, as a key service unit in their parent institution, have an important
role to play in supporting this mission. We have seen many academic libraries strive to
go green by designing a green library, whether a new build or renovation. The gold
standard is to achieve accreditation with one of the major green building standards
around the world, be it building research establishment environmental assessment
method in the UK, Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) in the USA
and much of Asia (Edwards, 2011), or Hong Kongs BEAM.
However, it has been pointed out that even in the USA there are very few academic Library Management
libraries that are LEED certified (Aulisio, 2013). We argue that due to various limitations, Vol. 37 No. 6/7, 2016
pp. 373-384
either financial or in terms of space, it may not be easy for an academic library to get Emerald Group Publishing Limited
0143-5124
funding for a new build or for a major overhaul of their existing building. In this case, DOI 10.1108/LM-05-2016-0041
 LM pursuing a green building cannot be the focus of a sustainability approach for many
37,6/7 academic libraries. Embracing an holistic approach to sustainability practices may be a
way forward.

Green strategy and sustainability

374 A frequently used definition of sustainability, from the United Nations World
Commission on Environment and Development, is to ensure that it meets the needs of
the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own
needs (United Nations, 1987). For the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)
(2016), to be sustainable is to create and maintain conditions under which humans and
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nature can exist in productive harmony, that permit fulfilling the social, economic and
other requirements of present and future generations. From these definitions, three
forms of sustainability are defined: economic sustainability, social sustainability and
environmental sustainability (Chowdhury, 2014). There is some debate about the need
for a fourth dimension of cultural sustainability, particularly in urban settings such as
Hong Kong; however, we have chosen to subsume this within social sustainability.
Another definitional aspect that we believe is important to libraries is that [t]he
heart of sustainability is not data on CO2 emissions, but a spirit of action, a state of
mind (Clark, 2014). Le Ber and Gregory (2004) write that greening is a process, as well
as a state of mind, and it calls for taking action. This is reflected in library literature
with Jankowska and Marcum (2010) commenting that since the 1990s the trend has
been to move from terms such as green librarian or green librarianship, to more
action oriented terminology such as go green, and green library movement. Aulisio
(2013) proposed not to restrict the term green library to the very few LEED certified
libraries but to include any library that promotes sustainability and that a true green
library is one that promotes sustainability by leading by example and attempts to
incorporate sustainability into all aspects of academic librarianship.
Embracing a holistic and action-oriented approach to sustainability will have
significant impact on the development of a sustainability strategy. Jankowska and
Marcum (2010) suggest sustainability strategies should be integrated into library
operations, saying:
Sustainable strategies need to be integrated into a platform for guiding future decisions about
collections, library buildings, and the scale of preservation, digitalization, equipment,
products, and library networking service efforts. Such decisions need to take into account not
only the cost of collection, equipment, and labor but also the cost of generated waste measured
by the size of ecological footprint resulting from library operations and services.
Olson (2008) though targeting at business enterprises, provided a model for a green
strategy it can be applied by academic libraries who endeavour to establish a
sustainability strategy. He argued a green strategy complements other strategies
implemented by an enterprise and helps an enterprise make business decisions that
have a positive impact on the environment and the decisions are based on solid
business logic. Three principles in a green strategy were highlighted:
(1) it fosters a common culture of awareness and action;
(2) it facilitates decisions and transformation initiatives that improve the
environment; and
(3) it should have attractive value propositions that are cost effective.
 Olsons view is that a green strategy should aim to cultivate a green culture that can Green
reinforce peoples behaviour, provide appropriate tools and training in order to strategies at
encourage change. Current and best practices to cultivate a common culture may
include: lead by example, provide training, install appropriate tools, measure and report
the Chinese
performance, make it everyones responsibility and create a communication and change University
management plan. A green strategy should thus affect other decisions made across the
whole enterprise. Olson also offered a model for assessing the maturity level of a green 375
strategy which we will apply to Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK) Library.

CUHK Library green strategy in context

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Hong Kong is a highly urbanized, high density, high consumption, business-oriented

city and a society that is facing tensions around the sustainability of its language and
culture. It is also highly vulnerable to the consequences of climate change (Francesch-
Huidobro, 2014) and according to the same author Hong Kongs solutions are by and
large limping behind developments elsewhere.
Against this background socially responsible universities must play a leadership
role, and CUHK is committed to being a leader in the research, teaching and
institutional practice of environmental sustainability. CUHK has a history of support
for sustainability dating back to the 1990s (www.cuhk.edu.hk/sustainability/en/our_
work/strategic/milestones.html). Its 2012 sustainability policy states it is committed to
adopting sustainable development in education, research and knowledge transfer, to
building a sustainable campus by integrating sustainability in its planning, decision-
making and day-to-day operations, and to providing leadership in sustainability for the
enhancement of the well-being of all peoples (www.cuhk.edu.hk/cpso/documents/
sustainability_policy_2012.pdf).
CUHK is blessed with the largest and greenest campus in Hong Kong, 137.3-hectares
overlooking Tolo Harbour. Given our beautiful site a key goal for the university is To
conserve, protect and enhance places of high ecological, landscape and cultural
heritage value on campus (CUHK, 2012 sustainability policy). The Campus Master
Plan for campus development until 2021 (www.cuhk.edu.hk/cmp/en/index.htm) is
based on the principle of sustainable development and pledges to reduce energy
consumption and greenhouse gas emission (Figure 1).
The Green Governance committee is supported by a green team comprising the
Campus Planning and Sustainability Office (CPSO), the Estates Management Office
(EMO) and the Campus Development Office (CDO). Our nine colleges and various
student organizations also play an important role in building the sustainable campus.
At a departmental level each office is required to nominate at least one staff member to
serve as energy warden to facilitate the implementation of energy conservation
measures and encourage colleagues to achieve targets on energy consumption and
greenhouse gas emission. Five CUHK Library staff serves as energy wardens.
Green policies and targets: CUHK has a number of green policies including energy
conservation, green purchasing, to a no sharks fin policy. Implementation of the
policies is increasing target driven with clear performance indicators. Overall targets
such as a 25 per cent reduction in total energy consumption per capita by 2025 are
ambitious, with this target higher than that of Hong Kong governments. Medium-term
sustainability targets to 2017 are stretching:
to achieve a further 8 per cent reduction in energy consumption per capita and
10 per cent per capita reduction in greenhouse gas emissions;
 LM
37,6/7 Campus Planning and
Sustainability Office Colleges

376
Campus Campus Planning Committee
Development Office Staff
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Estates Campus Landscaping Committee on

Management Office Enhancement Committee Campus Sustainability Students

External Parties
Other Offices and Units
Note: A committee on campus sustainability formulates polices and guidelines
Figure 1.
Green governance for action plans, and oversees implementation
Source: www.cuhk.edu.hk/sustainability/en/our_work/strategic/governance.html

to reduce waste to landfill further by 12 per cent per capita;

to reduce water usage further by 15 per cent per capita; and
to reduce the use of paper by 50 per cent, with particular reference to committee
papers (www .cuhk.edu.hk/cpso/documents/sustainability_targets_2012.pdf).
Initiatives to promote behavioural change within the staff and student body abound.
The Green Office Programme GO! impacts daily operations in all university offices.
Its core mechanism is the GO! Checklist where 32 action items are listed (www.cuhk.
edu.hk/cpso/go!/gop.html#checklist). Participating offices pledge to undertake at least
half of the action items. The programme was launched in 2012 on a voluntary basis and
became compulsory in 2014. Other activities to raise environmental awareness and
promote sustainable lifestyle among students and staff include as examples, a farmers
market on campus, and a campaign to encourage walking. Many of these are student-
led, for example, the latest campaign to ditch the graduation bouquet and soft toy, or at
least donate the soft toy to charity.
These soft approaches are used alongside much harder edged tactics including
financial incentives to achieve targets. Aimed initially at the top 20 buildings with the
highest energy consumption the 2014 Energy Conservation Incentive Scheme aims to
achieve a 4 per cent reduction in baseline electricity consumption in each of the first
two years, and 8 per cent in each of the third and fourth years. To encourage
participating offices, 80 per cent of the electricity cost saved will be given to the
building users and there will be no penalty for those who cannot reach the target
reduction in the first two years. However, if the building users fail to achieve the target
reduction in the third and fourth years, they will have to share half of the cost with a
 cap set at 4 per cent of the baseline consumption. This scheme gives some indication of Green
the seriousness with which the university approaches sustainability. strategies at
Ultimately central to any universitys sustainability approach is teaching and
research. CUHK currently has over 150 sustainability-related research projects and has
the Chinese
incorporated sustainability principles into its curriculum. Education in environment, University
energy and sustainability spreads across almost all faculties, colleges and general
education programmes, from highly targeted degrees such as a Master of Social Science 377
in sustainable tourism to the common general education programme for all
undergraduates that examines aspects of fundamental human concerns, including
humans relationship with nature, through reading of classic texts.
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CUHK Library and sustainability

CUHK Library Strategic Plan: when CUHK Library came to develop a new strategic
plan in 2013 it conducted an environmental scan, including at an institutional level, to
inform the planning process. Given CUHKs strong commitment to sustainability, the
Library felt it needed to explicitly embrace sustainability for the first time in its own
strategy, to support and complement the universitys approach. The librarys strategy
Partnering for Success 2013-2016 includes a vision statement the says the library
wishes to be recognized for:
[] engaging with our students, faculty and the wider university community to design and
deliver user-centred, sustainable services and spaces.
In addition the plan is structured around five strategic themes with objectives
underlying each theme. Sustainability is one of the five strategic themes and under
which are four objectives:
(1) progress towards environmental sustainability wherever possible;
(2) deliver and demonstrate value and fiscal responsibility;
(3) optimize collection space, storage and preservation; and
(4) secure the organizational structure and staff skills needed to deliver the CUHK
Library mission and vision (www.lib.cuhk.edu.hk/sites/cuhk/files/page/about/
people/inside-the-library-strategic-plan.pdf).
The strategy not only includes environmental and economic sustainability but also
social sustainability with a vision statement highlighting the librarys enduring
commitment to reflect the universitys bilingual and bicultural environment in its
collections, services and collaborations. The objectives also include issues specific to
the library that need to addressing, specifically collections and services.

Green strategy in action at the CUHK Library

We believe that greening is a process, as well as a state of mind, and it calls for taking
action (Le Ber and Gregory, 2004). In this section we outline some of the actions taken
by the Library as a result its own strategic plan, and in response to both the CUHK
institutional environment and the wider Hong Kong situation.

Social: raising awareness of sustainability issues

Levels of awareness and commitment to sustainability issues in Hong Kong society are
relatively low. There is no functioning green political party, and a recent survey by
 LM CUHK journalism students found many people unwilling or unable to turn
37,6/7 environmental issues into action. A Hong Kong-wide Food Wise campaign to
reduce food waste was cited as an example with 90 per cent of respondents aware of the
campaign, but less than half were motivated to reduce food waste (Ho, 2016).
Given this background we believe it is important to work on raising awareness of
sustainability issues among library staff. Sustainability is a standing agenda item on the
378 librarys management team meetings and notes are circulated to all staff. Monthly
statistics from our EMO on electricity and water consumption by library are shared with
all our library managers. Our sustainability work is also a section in the librarys annual
report. Co-organizing Academic Libraries 4 with its theme of the sustainable academic
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library is another opportunity to engage a group of staff with the issues.

One of the most success awareness raising initiatives has been the rooftop organic
vegetable garden set up on the new library extension roof in 2014. A green roof was part of
the design of our extension (see below) but became a neglected lawn that was not used. With
a generous donation from the CC Wu Cultural and Education Foundation, with assistance
from EMO and advice from two organic farming organizations in Hong Kong, O-Farm and
the Permaculture Institute, the idea to create an organic rooftop garden became reality. Food
is very central to Chinese culture and food quality is a concern to all. The library offered
training and support to over 40 library staff volunteers who have become organic gardeners.
Several hands-on training sessions were run to help library staff who are interested in
gardening, as many had never gardened before, and the staff garden together in teams of
three with their own part of the garden. A wide range of herbs as well as vegetables such as
gourd, bush bean, cucumber, radish, lettuce and tomato are grown. Vegetable growing is a
great opportunity for staff to learn more about sustainability and work together for a
healthier lifestyle. More than that, the organic roof-top garden is a catalyst for team building,
skills development and fostering staff morale and harvests have been celebrated.
An evaluation of the rooftop garden was conducted in January 2016 when a survey
was sent to all gardeners. The response rate was 82 per cent, and the result is shown
in Table I.
The most encouraging sign of the impact of the garden is that it is still being very
well tender after 18 months and when staff leaves we have no problem filling vacancies
with new gardeners.

Strongly Agree No comment Disagree Strongly

agree (%) (%) (%) (%) disagree (%)

Participation in rooftop gardening raises my

awareness of the importance of a Green Life 39 61 0 0 0
Participation in rooftop gardening increases my
knowledge of fresh and healthy local produce 58 42 0 0 0
Participation in rooftop gardening enhances
team work building among library colleagues 51 39 10 0 0
Participation in rooftop gardening increase
training opportunity for leadership 26 48 16 7 3
Participation in rooftop gardening helps me to
learn organic farming 71 29 0 0 0
Table I. Participation in rooftop gardening increases my
Rooftop garden support for a green and healthier living style 45 48 7 0 0
survey responses The rooftop garden transforms a vacant space
from gardeners into a beautiful and productive space 81 19 0 0 0
 Social: the CUHK and beyond Green
CUHK Library is not alone in implementing its green strategy on sustainability. The strategies at
successful implementation of its green strategy is through close partnership working.
These partners come from the CUHK community and beyond.
the Chinese
The library works closely with the universitys green team, namely, CDO, EMO and University
CPSO. Other units, especially students green organizations, also provide
recommendations to the library for promoting awareness on sustainability. The 379
library listens to their suggestions and do our best to integrate their recommendations
into our daily operation and services if possible.
Beyond CUHK. The library believes that partnership with organizations beyond
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CUHK community will expand and enrich library staffs experience and practice on
sustainability. Our work with O-Farm training our gardeners is an example of how we
cannot work in isolation.
If you accept, as the ALA Sustainability Round Table, does that there is a
relationship between culture and sustainable development, and that libraries have
a role to play in cultural sustainability and cultural diversity this has implications for
what we collect and how we make it accessible. CUHK Library has always collected
material to support Hong Kong studies and has a particularly strong Hong Kong
literature collection. Public exhibitions and related talks, such as our recent Fun with
Cantonese exhibition, or the exhibition highlighting art therapy and the talents of
autistic children, have not explicitly formed part of our sustainability strategy, but can
be viewed as helping to fostering a resilient community.

Green library services

CUHK Library endeavours to implement green practices in its services and daily
operations, especially the effort to reduce the consumption of paper, another university
target. One of the ways is to convert services to online so that use of paper can be
reduced as far as possible. However, this has been a gradual and indeed ongoing as
some of our users, preferred paper format or non-electronic communication.
The library had to implement the change through various channels and to give
faculty and staff sufficient time to adopt this change. Below is a timeline of some
services that have moved online in phases in order to reduce the consumption of paper
(Table II).
Printing service. In order to reduce paper consumption duplex printing option was
made available as early as 2002. Eventually, double-sided printing was set as a default
mechanism for all printing in September 2011. To encourage recycling of unwanted
paper produced from photocopiers and printers, rubbish recycling bins are placed near
photocopiers and printers. Moreover, library staff will collect unwanted paper with
printing on one-side for reuse, placed in a tray in public areas for users to use as
drafting paper.
Scanning service. The library also reviewed the provision of multi-function
photocopiers, and significantly increased scanning provision in 2013-2014. The charge
of scanning service is cheaper than the printing and the library hopes that this will
attract users to use scanning more than printing so as to reduce paper consumption.
The consumption of paper has reduced 1 per cent in 2015 as compared to 2014.
Sustainable collection services. Space is at premium in Hong Kong, and in its 2015
collection development policy the library implemented an electronic preferred policy
(e-preferred policy) both journals and books so as to provide a greater access to library
 LM September 1999 Online request for electronic reserve service
37,6/7 January 2000 Online request for Inter-library loan service
September 2002 Personalized electronic services Bi-weekly new additions list; publishers/
vendors alert services CUHK ILLiad web-based inter-library loan service
November 2005 Online application for alumni library services library card and digital
library service
380 January 2008 Online library room booking system
March 2009 Self-check-out station users can decide whether to print the receipt
April 2009 Online form for requesting inter-branch book delivery
August 2009 Online registration/update of e-mail address service to receive all important
notifications from the library, including coming due alert, hold pickup, recall
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or overdue notices
June 2010 Discontinue the use of Date Due slips
January 2011 All library notices sent out by e-mail only
Table II. January 2012 Alumni Library card online renewal introduced
Timeline of services March 2014 Online booking system for faculty study rooms
that have May 2014 Online registration for a JULAC card, allowing reciprocal access to other
moved online university libraries in Hong Kong

resources and reduce the need for storage space. The policy states: Web based
electronic format will be preferred for all types of information resources for advantages
such as convenient 247 access, multiple usage, options to use on mobile devices, and
easy integration into course management system or e-learning platforms. Electronic
books and journal do not need a controlled environment; Hong Kongs tropical climate
where humidity quickly damages print books means air conditioning is the major cause
of the librarys electricity consumption.
The library has also been working through JULAC with its sister seven university
libraries in Hong Kong to take a sustainable approach to our print collections. JULAC
has for over 11 years now been working with our funders and the Hong Kong
administration to build a shared remote storage facility for low use print material. The
land has been allocated and the design, including an Automated Storage Retrieval
System, has been completed but unfortunately funding to build is not yet forthcoming.
As an interim measure in 2014 the eight JULAC libraries committed to a distributed
print journal storage scheme whereby a single copy of a print journal is kept by one
library for all to use when an electronic version is available. JSTOR titles were the first
to be included in the scheme, STEM titles came next and we are now working on
business studies titles.

Green operations
Green Office Programme. The library joined the Green Office Programme in its first
phase (2012) and since after. The library has fulfilled the requirements of GO! and is
acknowledged as a Competent Green Office from 2012 (www.cuhk.edu.hk/cpso/go!/
cgo.html). We display the Green Office badge on our website as a means of publicizing
the scheme and our commitment.
Energy saving. With the university energy saving targets explicitly in mind, the
library has undertaken action to try and reduce electricity consumption. This is a
particular challenge, not just because of the librarys long service hours, but also
because of the need for air conditioning. Working with EMO, lux levels, a measure of
 the intensity of light, were measured throughout the university library and as a result Green
substantial de-lamping took place. Additional motion sensors were installed not just strategies at
between the stacks but in all group study rooms. The time the lights stay on after a
user has moved away was reduced in order to cut down the consumption of electricity.
the Chinese
Shutting off computers, photocopiers and printers when library closes has been a long- University
standing practice. Now library staff no longer turn computers on every morning when
library opens; the first user is expected to turn the machine on. Our changes are paying 381
off. The annual electricity consumption of the university library complex for 2014 has
reduced by over 8 per cent as compared with the baseline.
Waste management. In order to collect waste paper more effectively and avoid
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contamination of high-quality of office paper waste, the university invited two waste
recycling companies to tender to offer a collection service for general paper waste and
confidential paper waste to the university offices and departments (www.cuhk.edu.hk/
cpso/go!/paper.html). CUHK Library joined this service in 2014. The company provides
a green bag for general paper waste and red bag for confidential paper waste. They
collect the bags directly from library offices and provide monthly report on the number
of bags and weight of paper waste collected as well as the carbon reduction through
paper recycling. The library also uses recycling waste separation bins for offices and
public areas in the libraries. In 2015, the weight of non-confidential paper recycled was
12,792.1 kg which accounts for a reduction of 61,508 kg greenhouse gas.
Furthermore the library also disposes of its redundant IT equipment and furniture
with care. All print cartridges are recycled by arrangement with EMO. Obsolete IT
equipment is collected by ITSC and the business office, for resale or distribution to
charities. A list of unwanted furniture is compiled and sent to all university offices via
mass mailing to seek new owners before sending to recycling sites.

Green building
At the start of this paper we said we do not believe a green building is a prerequisite for
becoming a green library. However, at CUHK we completed a major building project which
created an opportunity to integrate sustainable design. To accommodate an additional 3,000
students resulting from Hong Kongs tertiary education move from a three to a four year
undergraduate degree in 2012, it was decided to extend the existing university library, the
main library on campus. In 2005 funding was approved for an extra 6,100 sq. m. (NOFA) of
library space, and a new wing and extended basement beneath university square at the
front of the library opened in September 2012. Also in 2012 an internal spatial reorganization
of the original 1970s main library and its 1980s annex was undertaken to try and create one
coherent whole, seamlessly merging all three buildings with the new extension.
Integral to the project was sustainable design and the challenge of preservation
concerns. The original 1970s library sits at one end of the iconic university mall and
square, which includes The Beacon a significant sculpture by a world renowned
Taiwanese sculptor. The square is important venue for major campus events, and has
become an iconic symbol for student movements, and the memories of CUHK alumni.
The university library is also home to the largest house swift colony in Hong Kong,
housing around 30 per cent of Hong Kongs house swifts. Over 150 nests could be found
under the concrete eaves along the eastern and south walls of the university library,
and these needed protection during and after construction.
The design outcome was a minimalist, glass faade five-storey extension, two large
atria and a learning commons basement with two skylights from ponds to maximize
 LM daylight penetration in a building with a deep floor plate. One of the skylights, which has
37,6/7 become a key architectural feature of the library, re-instated an existing skylight that had
been blocked for many years. In the extension extensive use was made of environmental
sensors to monitor lighting and air conditioning. Green roof design for the new extension
roof was included to reduce heat gain. The glass faade used low-E double glazing to help
reduce heat gain, and a dot-pattern to stop the swifts flying into the glass. The house
382 swift conservation programme was successful. To better protect them, the university
commissioned a 17-month study of the swifts from June 2007 and undertook ongoing
monthly monitoring. In 2009 CUHK-designed artificial nest boxes were installed on the
librarys southern eaves to encourage the swifts to move from the librarys north faade
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which was being incorporated into the extension as an internal feature wall. A review
after the completion of the project at the end of 2012 proved the house swift preservation
effort has been a great success (www.cuhk.edu.hk/libraryextension/en/swift.html).
Since completion the library extension has received three environmental awards
attesting to CUHKs CDO and the librarys commitment to sustainable design. The
awards are:
Hong Kong BEAM Platinum Award, it highest rating. The assessment showed a
32 per cent saving on A/C electricity consumption, and 19.8 per cent saving of
maximum electricity demand due to sustainable design.
An Indoor Air Quality Certificate (excellent class) from Hong Kong
Environmental Protection Department. The award covers the levels of carbon
dioxide, carbon monoxide, respirable suspended particulates, ozone,
formaldehyde, volatile organic compounds and various other substances in
indoor air.
A Merit Award from Excellence in Sustainable Built Environment Green
Building Award 2014 organized by the Hong Kong Green Building Council.
A Silver Certificate from the Quality Water Recognition Scheme for Buildings
in 2013 from the Hong Kong Water Supplies Department.

Conclusion
If greening is a process and must be actionable we think it is fair to say that the library
is having some success as outlined above. Olson (2008) posited a green strategy
maturity model and assessment framework is shown in Figure 2.
Our analysis is that we are moving from the developing stage to the practicing
stage, but have more to do on integrating green principles into our traditional business
or service model, and have not started on building and maintaining a green
knowledgebase. CUHK has laid down Medium-term Sustainability Targets as
performance indicators for objective measurement of campus wide sustainability
practices. EMO has started providing relevant data to the library but we still need data
covering a longer period to make any meaningful comparison. Moreover, we need to do
more than that, as Jankowska (2010) points out libraries need hard data on how much
energy and money goes to making and storing their print collections vs how much goes
to creating and storing their electronic resources.
Our traditional service model is changing as the digital library and green computing
impact. However the financial cost, energy intensity and their carbon footprint have not yet
been objectively evaluated. With the recent launch of a Digital Scholarship Lab at CUHK
Library, which is equipped with a large high-resolution digital display wall for research
 Green
Optimizing
Aware Developing Practicing strategies at
Leadership

and Leading
the Chinese
Role of

Create guiding principles
and governance to
operationalizea green
strategy
Sponsor pilots for
significant, visible
investments with a key
green component
Sponsor a broad range of Support and
initiatives that integrate
green principles with
institutionalize
continuous University
traditional business value improvement

Identify simple, enterprise

level initiatives that
Communicate success
stories, encourage all
Manage a pipeline of green
initiatives, monitor the
Identify
interdependencies
383
Policies
Role of

demonstrate early
commitment to a green
strategy and reinforce the
cultural change that is
needed
Downloaded by PONTIFICIA UNIVERSIDAD JAVERIANA At 09:09 12 March 2017 (PT)
employees to begin external landscape for new across ongoing
thinking about green developments and initiatives and manage
opportunities in their local industry trends skill sets through
area of responsibility strategic staffing

Pursue recycling Establish and report on Build and maintain a green Identify where results Figure 2.
initiatives, add the green green performance knowledge base from successful
Illustrative

Olson (2008) green

Actions

contribution dimension to
prioritizing business
initiatives, and add the
green selection criteria
to procurements selection
criteria
measures, such as revenue
from recycled paper,
bottles and cans, or lower
energy consumption
Share lessons learned across initiatives can be
the enterprise and develop a duplicated and strategy maturity
Center of Excellence leverage them in other
areas of the business model and
assessment
framework

data visualization as well as PCs and iMacs, the library needs to monitor the impact of such
technology-rich spaces on energy consumption. Furthermore, in addition to the possible
increasing energy cost, the rapid technology development can make this high-tech
equipment obsolete at a fast pace. Alongside our e-preferred collection development policy
the library is about to replace its library management system with a cloud-based system
shared with our sister JULAC libraries. We are just beginning to move towards cloud-based
IT on the assumption it is green but without the firm evidence. Becken (2015) is of the
opinion that more energy is spent per online user, if not per unit of online productivity
even if one is working aloft in the cloud of todays expanding, robust, online apps.
We are concerned that we may have already picked the low-hanging fruit with regard
to energy savings and continued reduction in electricity consumption will be challenging.
We are about to participate in a university trial project on waste charging and waste
auditing to improve waste management efforts, and help us understand the impact of the
polluter pays model which the university is likely to adopt in the future. We will have
firm indicators and will need to relay these indicators to staff and students, alerting them
to the effectiveness and efficiency of waste management efforts. Given the vast majority
of waste is created by our users it is an example where we will need to put all our effort
into winning hearts and changing behaviours, working in partnership with our student
organizations and CUHK colleagues. Bringing our users along with us will be critical.

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Further reading
Robinson, T.E. (2011), Sustainable practices: thinking green is a good option for libraries, ALKI,
Vol. 27 No. 1, pp. 6-8.

Corresponding author
Louise Jones can be contacted at: louisejones@lib.cuhk.edu.hk

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